The Temple was not a building of worship, like a church or a synagogue, but was believed in some real way to be the house of God. The temple was the name given to the whole sacred precincts of Mount Moriah. Worship and sacrifice took place at the altar in the great open court in front of the Temple. The Temple itself was divided into two rooms, the Holy Place and the Holiest Place. Only the priests went into the Holy Place, which contained the Table of Shewbread, the great seven-branched lampstand, and the golden altar of incense. With the prayer time and sacrifice over, Peter and John emerged with Jesus from the inner temple via the Beautiful Gate. The three of them make their way Eastward to the portico of Solomon. This was the only remaining part of Solomon's great temple that was not destroyed by Nebuchadnezzer. Bearing Solomon's name, it was distinguished from all other porches or colonnades in the temple area.

Before Solomon, the son of David built the temple, the worship of Israel was conducted within a tent-like structure called the tabernacle which housed the arc of the covenant and other religious items. Solomon's temple was erected upon the plan of the tabernacle, with the exception that it was built out of stable materials and a number of courts were added. Solomon's temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and Zerubbabel's temple was erected on the return from captivity. After some centuries, this temple was desecrated by Antiochus Epipanes, and was later sacked by the Romans and was left in a dilapidated condition. The temple was afterwards rebuilt by Herod the Great, following which it was known as Herod's temple.

The ministration in the most holy was done on the great day of atonement, the 10th day of the 7th month. Here was the famous Hall of Squares or Halls of Purchase, or in one of the spacious chambers assigned to purposes of teaching which adjoined the Court of the Gentiles with its many-colored mosaic which formed the floor. The eastern porch of the temple, still called Solomon's porch because it was at least built of the materials which had formed part of the ancient Temple.

In back of the Holy Place was the Holy of Holies into which only the high priest went, once a year on the Day of Atonement. This contained the figures of the winged cherubim and the ark of the Covenant, a great chest above which God's presence was believed mysteriously to dwell. Josephus describes the courts of the temple with their buildings, walls, gates, and pillars of the royal cloisters.

Outside, in the daylight of a new morning, the worshipers saw a column of smoke curl upward from the sanctuary roof. The trumpeters lowered their instruments and the worship has begun. At the temples' inner court, the couple approached a white-robed priest. He stood at the gate to the inner court of the altar of sacrifice. It was an enormous rectangular altar about ten feet by 20 feet. There was a rim around the edge. It was forbidden for women to enter the gate. The porticos were more than 900 feet long.

The temple and its rites meant everything to the Jews. Under Roman rule they feared any threat to their worship and their Temple. In the East it was the custom for beggars to sit begging at the entrance to a temple or a shrine. When people are on their way to worship God, they are disposed to be generous. It walls are of marble and its steps and pinnacles of gold. but none who see it may fail to note the golden eagles of Rome emblazoned on the banner that floats over it, and few there who trust or honor Herod who hated the Jews yet sought to win their tolerance by such costly gifts. Even the House of God must exist with Rome's permission.

The Great Temple in Jerusalem employed hundreds. All sorts of people, but for the jobs and duties connected with services and the inner holy rooms and courts they were very selective. You had to be of a priestly family. When Herod died and Archelaus was King, the terrible riots and massacres were in Temple precincts. Very high walls but many gates. The gorgeous restoration by King Herod was one of the wonders of the world, during the festivals a lot of extra people were taken on to help handle the huge crowds of extra worshipers and tourists. Through gates plated with silver and gold and the facade plated with gold.

Court of the Gentiles: Josephus says there was in the court of the temple a wall or balustrade, breast high, having pillars at regular distances, with inscriptions on them in Greek and Latin, stating that strangers were forbidden to approach nearer. "For He is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken the middle wall of partition between us." Somewhere the prophecy stated that the Promised One would first purge the temple, and surely not a moment too soon. This was more a market place than a place of worship, defiled not by the heathen, as in the Maccabean's time, but by the very priests chosen to consecrate it to God. In the shadow of the colonnades in the Portico of Solomon, one could preach to Jew and Gentile alike.

Jesus prophesied that "Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Titus desired greatly that the Temple should be spared in the destruction of Jerusalem, and promised to spare the Jews if they would stop their resistance. Several times he sent Josephus to persuade his countrymen, but the providence of God directed otherwise. First the Jews themselves set fire to the court of the temple, and afterwards the Romans. Scavengers left no stone unturned in the search for the molten gold that hid in the crevasses after the fire.

If there is a physical temple to be rebuilt, it will happen but I doubt it. We are part of the restoration movement in these last days that are called to the task of rebuilding the very temple that people expect to be rebuilt. This is not something that you join, like a denomination, it is rather a unity of those led by the spirit of God to come together in love and put aside what has divided us in the past. God's sheep hear His voice and is a prelude to the wedding feast and the marriage of the righteous church to Jesus. There are those that teach that it will be a physical temple but the Bible teaches that it will be a spiritual temple made without hands. I have not always thought this way and there may even be some older parts of my site that do not reflect this. And it will not be the temple at Babylon that is rebuilt but the temple at Jerusalem, it will however be those that have come out of Babylon. The New Jerusalem will be something that comes out of heaven, not out of the earth.
What the rich people are building is the New World Order. I have heard for years that there have already been materials all ready to rebuild the old temple. So far these are just rumors but even if the temple is rebuilt, it will be the spiritual sacrifices of the Bride of Christ that will be the important thing. The blood sacrifice has already been enough for us in the cross of Jesus. Read your Bible carefully and try to understand the spiritual interpretations of it. Make sure that you are baptized in the Holy Spirit so that you may have the power to understand. [291, 293, 306, 309, 322, 324, 332, 334, 340, 345, 347, 373, 15, 377, BD, 380, Ephesians, 383, 402, 415]

The Lord has given Christians the grace to reconcile the children to their Fathers